THE GLOBAL AND THE LOCAL

Kathmandu Post, 4/28/09 Sushma Joshi The idea of an interlinked world whose security rests on each other is clearly a new idea for most The United States government recently put out a call for help to the most unlikely group -- computer hackers. Hackers, normally hounded for their ability to enter computer systems, were now recruited for one reason -- cyberattacks on government networks were occurring persistently, but the government was not prepared to deal with all these attacks. Hence the hackers, who could “think like the bad guy” but also had a sense of ethics, would help to create security systems that will protect valuable national information, including data on the stock market, taxes, airline flight system, and nuclear launch codes. The US had no plans for a digital disaster, David Powner, director of technology issues for the Government Accountability Office, told Congress last month, according to an AP report. The US government promptly promised $60 million to raise the numb...

Sushma Joshi Published in the Kathmandu Post, April 19, 2009 What does the United States of America have in common with St. Kitts (68 square miles wide), a small island in the Eastern Caribbean? Both countries, it appears, follow the federal system. Despite the naysayers who have been saying federalism won't work for Nepal due to its small size and multicultural and multiethnic nature, there is evidence that multicultural countries perform quite well within a federal system. The United States is federated. So is Switzerland, another European country that Nepalis often use as a model of what Nepal should be like. So is India, the world's biggest democracy. None of them are falling apart at the seams, as we are. So why do Nepalis fear the idea of federalism? After listening to a lecture by advocate Dinesh Tripathi, it appears to me that people are afraid of federalism because they don't quite understand what it is or how it's going to work out. Federalism is not the c...

By Sushma Joshi It is sad that Nepal is unable, when it comes to its own internal borders, to recognize the vulnerability and concerns of other victims The government of Nepal has no doubt signed every piece of legislation and international law there is in existence to fight trafficking. All the big political leaders have at one point or another pledged to help end trafficking. Activist networks and institutions receive millions of dollars in the name of anti-trafficking. And yet, when it comes to practice, we fail shamefully. The case is illustrated starkly by 72 Somalis who have been stranded in Nepal by traffickers who promised to take them to Naples, Italy, and who brought them to Nepal instead. They have been in Nepal for five years. And yet the Nepali government insists they are “illegal immigrants”, and requires them to pay an exit visa for overstaying their visit. At $6 a day, some of these folks owe more than $6000-$7000 to the Nepali government. They are now stuck in lim...